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The family members of a Jewish spouses have filed a lawsuit against The Met, alleging that a the Dutch artist oil painting was looted by the Nazis.

Origins of the Dispute

According to the court documents, the Stern couple bought the piece, titled Olive Picking, in the year 1935. A year after, they were compelled to leave their home in Munich just before WWII.

The suit contends that the Met, which obtained the masterpiece in the 1950s for one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars, must have realized it was probably confiscated property. The family are now demanding the repatriation of the canvas along with compensation.

Following the war, this Nazi-looted painting has been often and discreetly exchanged, bought and sold in and through New York, claims the lawsuit.

Forced Emigration

The Stern family escaped from Munich to California in 1936 with their six children due to persecution by the Nazis. Nevertheless, they were prevented from taking the painting, which was painted by the Dutch post-impressionist in 1889.

Before the family's emigration, Nazi authorities classified the artwork as a German cultural asset and prohibited the couple from bringing it with them. Following authorization from a Third Reich agent, a agent appointed by the authorities disposed of the painting on the Sterns' behalf. However, the proceeds from the transaction were deposited in a frozen account, which the regime later seized.

Post-War History

Around 1948, or soon after, the painting arrived in NYC and was bought by Vincent Astor, one of America's wealthiest people. Eventually, it was sold through a commercial outlet to the Met, which then transferred it to prominent shipowner Basil Goulandris and his wife, Mrs. Goulandris, in the early 1970s.

The Greek couple set up the BEG in the late 1970s, which manages a museum in the Greek capital where the masterpiece is currently shown.

Legal Arguments

The foundation and a surviving nephew of Basil Goulandris are listed as respondents. The legal action states that the defendants and its affiliates have covered up the painting's ownership and whereabouts from the heirs.

Currently, the foundation continue to conceal the circumstances the institution came into possession of the artwork; the couple's ownership of the Painting from 1935 to 1938; and the reality that the regime looted the Painting from the heirs, forced the Sterns into disposing of it via a trustee, and seized the proceeds of the transaction.

Previous Legal Action

The family initiated a similar complaint in CA in 2022, but it was dismissed in 2024. An further action was also rejected in recently.

The Met's Position

The lawsuit contends that the institution's buying of the piece was authorized by Theodore Rousseau Jr, the Met's authority of European art and one of the world's foremost experts on Nazi-era looted art. The institution and its expert were aware or ought to have been aware that the masterpiece had probably been looted by Nazis.

The Met issued a statement that it takes seriously its ongoing pledge to address claims from the Nazi period.

A spokesperson commented: Not once during the institution's custody of the artwork was there any evidence that it had previously been owned to the family – in fact, that information did not become accessible until several decades after the artwork left the institution's holdings.

The museum's disposal of Olive Picking met the institution's rigorous standards for removal from collection – specifically, it was recorded that the work was judged to be of lower caliber than other pieces of the same type in the holdings. While the institution respectfully stands by its view that this piece entered the inventory and was removed properly and well within all rules and regulations, the Met is open to and will review any new information that emerges.

Goulandris Statement

A lawyer acting for the Goulandris Foundation stated: The institution is a esteemed foundation in Athens. The action to take legal action against the institution and the family in the America upon misleadingly incomplete allegations was already thrown out, multiple times. We are confident it will be once more.